Czech government seeks to reduce number of children in institutional care

The Czech government’s Human Rights Council is to ask legislators to pass
new laws preventing children younger than seven from ending up in
institutionalized care. Instead, at risk or unwanted children will be
placed in family or foster homes, with institutionalization only occurring
as a last resort.

Illustrative photo: Romy Ebert
The Czech government may finally be set to reform a system which has been
the target of criticism at both home and abroad. It is one in which
presently large numbers of young children live in institutional care –
or
“children’s homes” as they are called in Czech. According to Tomáš
Valenta, head of the Czech Dítě a Rodina, or Family and Child NGO, the
Czech Republic is the last country in Europe permitting children up to
three to
be placed in such care. I asked him to explain the significance of the
current reform efforts:

“Back in 2012, the former government approved a strategy for the
care of
at risk children. This was intended to ban children up to three from being
sent to institutions by 2014, and children up to seven by 2016. Sadly this
was not approved, and as discussions continue young children continue to
be
sent to institutions.”

Jiří Dienstbier, photo: Filip Jandourek
Jiří Dienstbier, minister for equal opportunities and human rights, and
chairman of the the 21-member Human Rights Council, told Czech Radio that
the package under discussion is intended to improve social services for
all
at risk children, as well as better regulating children’s homes in the
unavoidable event that particular children are sent there.

“The Council unanimously agreed with the reform proposals. This
included
members of the three affected ministries, namely Education, Health, and
Labour and Social Affairs, who will be responsible for operating the
unified system. As far as placing into care children aged up to
seven-years-old, the Council heard expert testimony and studies which
suggested that such institutionalization has a negative effect on a
child’s development, including social skills. And so it is always better
for a child to have as close an approximation to a real family as
possible.”

Dienstbier also explained that the final law passed by the government
would likely be phased-in over six years, gradually raising the age at
which children are prohibited from being placed into institutional care.
He
added that under exceptional circumstances the option of sending a child
of
seven or under into care would still be available as a last resort:

Photo: European Commission“Of course, the primary interest is to enable a child to remain in
its
natural environment, meaning with its biological family. Any other option
should only occur very rarely, and so that it why reform of all-round
social services comprises a crucial part of the overall solution.”

The Human Rights Council proposals are expected to be taken up by the
cabinet early in the New Year, with the wording of concrete legislation
ready by November 2016.